A Step Too Far
by Soulitude
Summary: Mineta’s urges cause a civilian to go berserk, now Midoriya needs to slap some sense into him.
1. Urges

It started as a basic patrol during their second year at U.A. Midoriya and Mineta somehow got paired together for the school-sponsored hero work. They both had their hero costumes on, so it would be obvious of their status as fledgling heroes. A summer breeze went by as the two walked side by side across the street. There was not much activity in the section of the city they had been tasked to talk around in, so Mineta decided to try and have some fun.

He turned to his partner, "Hey, Midoriya, doesn't this seem pretty lame." Deku gave him a frown, "There hasn't been much going on. But wouldn't you agree that's a good thing?" Mineta rolled his eyes, damn Midoriya and his good nature. He scoffed, "Sure but this is so boring! Why are we even here? Listen, how about you and me go over to the local pool and check out the girls." Most students were on summer break, but 2-A was tasked by Aizawa to go on a collective hero internship hosted by the Pro Hero Wash. No one was opposed, at least vocally. But Mineta had his own thoughts regarding the internship.

Midoriya turned red at Mineta's suggestion, stuttering out, "W-what? M-Mineta you can't be suggesting stuff like that! We are heroes, let's act like it." Mineta looked up at Midoriya, trying to process a response. Eventually he spoke out, "Don't act like you're a saint. We're both teens here, we're both boys. Come on." Midoriya didn't argue, only glared at the short teen. He was about to say something when he got cut off by a pair of younger girls. "Look! It's him!" The two ran up to Deku. "You're Izuku Midoriya right?" One of them said. The other continued, "We saw you at the sports festival this year!" 2-A already had their second festival by this point. "You were so cool! Like BAM! And POW!" The youngest of the two went on, who was likely around 14 years old.

Mineta felt detached. "Hey! I was at the festival too!" The girls turned to them. "I got to the second round! Come on!" The older one of the duo had a thoughtful look, "Ah, I do remember a short kid there." The younger girl agreed. Mineta smirked, "Maybe then we can hang out sometime." He gave a wink. Midoriya rolled his eyes and said to the girls, "Sorry about him. We are on patrol right now, so we should get going." He gave a nudge to Mineta. The girls seemed to have gotten the message, silently nodding and walking by them.

Mineta acted dramatic and surprised, "What the hell Midoriya? You could have joined in too! We are heroes, sure, but we have hormones. Come on! You got to relate." Midoriya started to grit his teeth and said, "I don't act on my urges. I have boundaries." He sped up past Mineta, clearly pissed. Mineta shouted out, "Fine! Do your patrol or whatever." They split apart.

Mineta stomped down the street, pouting from Midoriya interfering with his plans. Damnit, why was it so hard just to get some girls to notice him? Throughout his time at U.A. he kept trying to indulge his natural urges, but every time some saint-like student or teacher got in his way. Why was it just him and Kaminari that were honest with themselves? So caught up in his thoughts, he did not even notice when he bumped hard into an older woman, actually knocking her on the ground, her phone sliding toward the road.

He got back up in a panic. Knocking over such a fine specimen like that, he was ashamed of himself. He went over to pick her up, but made sure to get a quick feel of her as she was being pulled up by the short teen. The woman drew back in surprise, "What did you just do?" Mineta acted dumb, "Got you up?" "No-you know what I mean. You did that on purpose!" She screamed at him, starting to cause a scene in the middle of the sidewalk. "I don't know what you mean babe." That was a step too far, even for Mineta. She screamed again, grasping at her head. He walked back a few meters. Her body started pulsating, transforming into some anthropomorphic lizard, with a face able to turn even Mineta off.

The thing growled and turned towards Mineta. It charged directly at him at inhuman speeds, nearly reaching him before he suddenly got pulled into a park right behind him. He got thrown into a tree, knocking his head on a branch as he reached the top. Midoriya was there, with an indecipherable face, staring at Mineta seemingly unamused. The shadow-like tendrils of Blackwhip returned to Midoriya. The freak woman ran towards the park, not quite knowing where Mineta went.

Midoriya decided it was a good time to speak up, "You and I need to have a talk."


	2. Freakout

Mineta leaned out of the tree and peered at the freakish lady. She was inching down the park, with the nearby civilians screaming and fleeing the area. "You keep doing it," a mutter came from besides Mineta. "Why are you here?" Midoriya said to the short student. Mineta glared, "You were the one who threw me into this damn tree!" He got an eye roll in response, "That's not what I meant. Why are you here? Why are you interning for Wash?" "Aizawa practically made us!" "Still not what I meant." A screech came from below. By now the park had been cleared out, with the woman below watching above at the trees.

Midoriya shifted and turned himself towards Mineta, "Mineta, why are you at U.A?" His eyes widened, "What the hell are you talking about? To be a hero!" His shout drew the lizard's attention to them. It let out a scream and dashed towards their tree. Midoriya picked up Mineta and leapt away as a shake came from tree as the woman slammed into it. He dashed across the trees in order to make her lose track of them. Feeling satisfied, they ended up near the center of the park, away from the lizard's sights.

As Midoriya put Mineta down, the shorter boy said, "We're wasting time Midoriya! We need to take that damn freak down." "Not yet, you need to face the consequences of your actions." Mineta placed on a furious expression, "My actions? It was her overreaction that made her dumb quirk go off!" Midoriya suddenly grabbed Mineta again, but this time he held him up by his shirt.

He spent a few moments glaring at Mineta before finally speaking, "Don't say that." Mineta gave a chuckle, "Say what? The truth?" His grip tightened on Mineta, "Don't you dare blame this on her! I saw the whole thing from the park. You thought I'd trust you alone? Don't make me laugh." Mineta pouted, "Of course I can be trusted alone. I am a teenager, not a baby." Midoriya sighed, "Mineta, you were alone, and look what happened. You, yes you, caused her quirk to go off because your perverted tendencies just weren't controlled."

He let go of Mineta, "And you want to be a hero?" The midget frowned, "Of course I do. It would finally get me the girls and glory!" Midoriya gave another sigh, "You have gone through U.A. up to this point for such a shallow reason?" "Shallow? It's not shallow." It was Deku's turn to frown, further than before, "Your hormones shouldn't even be as active by the time we become heroes. That is, if you become a hero. Aizawa is going to have our heads after this! And all of this, for what?" He grabbed Mineta's head to force him to look at the woman, "Look at what you caused! Do you even care or not!" "Of course I care. But how could I have known-" "You shouldn't have done it in the first place!"

He threw Mineta back into the tree, "You groped her! Just like how you have harassed our classmates. My friends!" Mineta seemed to be in disbelief, "H-harass? I didn't harass anyone! And our classmates-they're pretty asking for it. Heh, especially Momo-" he got cut off by a slap.

Tears started welling in Mineta's eyes, "W-why the hell did you do that Midoriya?" Said hero spat out, "You don't get to call her Momo. You scumbag." Mineta was about to reply when he got cut off, "You're not a hero. You're just a pervert. Is that what you want to be known as?" Mineta looked down, "It-it's the only way I can get any attention." A tear fell out, "W-when I found o-out I got into U.A. I was so excited. I-I would finally have a c-chance to be known. I s-see all those girls and I am amazed. I want them." Midoriya was stunned, "They aren't objects for you to want. They're people, just like you!"

The tree collapsed.

Midoriya pushed Mineta out of the way as the woman charged at them. He knocked her back with a flick of his finger disrupting the air. Mineta mumbled, "I want to be a hero." He got up and shouted, "I want to be a hero!" He launched his purple balls at the lizard, getting a few stuck onto her. She screamed and ran after him when Midoriya ran after her and slammed her onto the ground. She got stuck and started wailing. It wasn't long until she suddenly reverted back into her normal human self, and fainted. They stood in silence as a few police cars and an ambulance came to arrest her. Midoriya went to stop them, "Wait, this wasn't her fault." The policeman shrugged, "Sorry kid, this is a precautionary measure. We'll figure out the details of what happened once she's secure."

They loaded the fainted woman into an ambulance, letting it drive her away. One of the policemen questioned them what happened. Before Midoriya could reply he was interrupted by Mineta, "It was my fault." Midoriya's eyes widened. Mineta went on, "I-I made her turn into her freakish form. I-I couldn't help myself." He began to cry. "I can't keep doing this. I get it. I-I can't-" he broke down. Midoriya looked down and had pity for him. He wants to be a hero, after all.


	3. Growth

It was merely a few hours after the incident. The full moon was up in the sky, looking down upon the peasants, judging their every move. A police car drove up to the Wash Agency. Out came the short criminal and his green-haired accomplice. Mineta's heart was pounding, "I made a mistake, I shouldn't have told, I made a mistake, I shouldn't have told." Midoriya's eyes rolled, "Relax already. She decided not to press charges, you're not going to jail." "Jail? I'd rather be there than here Midoriya! Aizawa is going to KILL ME-" His mouth got swiftly covered by a scarred hand. "Quiet, we'll have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Whether you like it or not."

They were led by an officer into the agency, where Wash and Eraserhead were awaiting the two in Wash's giant meeting room. As soon as the tired, agitated eyes of Aizawa spotted the duo he stood up. The officer that had led them slowly walked out, letting out a small chuckle, "Good luck kids!"

The door shut behind them.

Aizawa's capture tape immediately went around the two boys, practically slamming them into some seats. He grumbled, "I already know what happened." Mineta fearfully looked up at him. "Why shouldn't I expel you right now?" Midoriya took a glance down at his friend. Mineta replied, "You should." The 3 pairs of eyes around him flew open. "I always wanted to be a hero but... not like this." Aizawa's expression softened, "Good answer."

The discussion went on for an hour. Mineta had, surprisingly, exhibited true remorse, finally realizing the effect his actions have had on his classmates. Wash remained silent for the entire meeting, though he was not one to participate in such discussions in the first place. Aizawa was stunned by Mineta's confessions, not only to the incident with "The Freak", but towards his interactions with other classmates. If he had known this at any other point, the little creep would've been expelled. And yet, now he wasn't going to waste a golden opportunity to mold Mineta into someone who could truly be a hero.

By the end of it, Aizawa took a good look at the two students in front of him. Mineta, about to fall apart at the seams. And Midoriya, who looked like at this point he wanted to be anywhere else but here. Ready to put an end to this miserable night, Aizawa gave another look at Mineta and said, "Mineta. I hope that somewhere, deep within yourself, you want to become a hero, to be a hero. That one day you can... fix this mindset of your's. But perhaps this is a start." He looked down at Mineta with pity.

"You're both dismissed."

Early that morning, a knock was heard outside the large room all the girls of Class 2-A were staying in during their internship. Yaoyorozu opened the door with a yawn, spotting Mineta right at the door. She quickly shut it right in his face.

"Wait! I'm not here to try anything!" Mineta tried opening the door again, but Yaoyorozu kept her hand on the handle, "I'm not buying that, Mineta!" A sigh is heard, "F-fine, I don't deserve your trust anyways. I'll just say what I need to."

"Over the past year and a half, I have gotten to know you girls in... many ways." A scoff is heard from Uraraka, who at this point was awake alongside the rest of the girls. "B-but that's not a good thing! I've been... desperate, for a long time, for some affection and attention. But that's no excuse for how I've treated you girls." Unknowingly echoing Endeavor from his path to redemption, Mineta pleaded, "I don't expect forgiveness. Nor do I expect acceptance. But, give me a chance to be better."

The door opened. Yaoyorozu spoke, "What caused this?" Mineta frowned, "An encounter with the consequence of my actions. And maybe some yelling by Midoriya?" Uraraka chuckled, "That's my Deku!"

From that day forward, Mineta tried to change his perverted ways. First he had a long talk with Kaminari, his best friend, and convinced him as well that the path they were on wasn't towards being a hero, and that they needed a change. After the internship, Mineta took counseling sessions with Hound Dog, U.A.'s school counselor. He was on the path towards becoming a true hero. Not there quite yet.

But at least he was trying.


End file.
